Too Much of a Good Thing? What to Do with Leftover Bagels

Maybe you were feeling overly zealous when you made your bagel run yesterday morning, or you’re eyeing a box of leftover bagels in the office come lunch time. We bet you don’t want those extra bagels to go to waste. When left out uncovered, even the best bagels can get a little stale, but that doesn’t mean they should be trashed.

From breakfast to dinner to dessert, BCB has you covered with ways to revive your favorite treat. Check out these recipes and ideas below.

Bagel Chips

Using stale bagels to make chips is a quick, easy way to reuse your snack and make an even better snack. Simply cut bagels into slices, place them on a sheet pan, sprinkle with oil, salt, pepper, and spices, and then bake at 375°F until they turn golden and crispy (about 15-20 minutes). You can use any type of bagel for this recipe; savory flavors like onion and everything taste great with hummus and spinach dips, and sweeter flavors (blueberry, for example), can be used in cream cheese or whipped cream-based dips.

Croutons

Save your savory bagels to make homemade croutons for your soups or salads. Just cut or tear the bagels into (roughly) one-inch cubes, toss them in olive oil, spread the pieces on a sheet pan, and then bake at 375°F for approximately 15 minutes. As they’re baking, you can add Italian spices, garlic, paprika, or other spices to add a punch of flavor.

Bread Bowl

If you have a leftover bagel, you have a bowl. Hollow out a bagel and use it to hold soup, dips, or egg, tuna, or chicken salads. If you want to get fancy, you can even scramble an egg (add fillings like ham, cheese, spinach, etc.), dump that into your bagel and bake it in the oven at 375°F, until the egg is set.

Pizza Bagels

You can come by BCB Café at any time to order your own pizza bagel, or you can make one yourself with leftovers for an easy and delicious snack. Slice your bagel and spread a tomato or pesto sauce on top of each half. Then top with cheese and other pizza toppings and bake in the oven at 375°F for about 10 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and bubbly. The sauce will soften up a stale bagel and make it a bit easier to eat.

Bread Pudding

Bread pudding recipes require cubes of bread as the base of the dessert, but they don’t often specify what kind of bread to use. So, if you have a box of bagels sitting around, tear them up and then tear into this beloved treat. There are tons of bread putting recipes around the net, so we recommend searching for your favorite iteration and following those instructions. Sweet bagel flavors—blueberry, cinnamon swirl, strawberry—work for this dessert, but plain and egg bagels will also aptly soak up and complement the sweetness of the other bread pudding ingredients (like sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla).

With these ideas in hand, you now know that more is merrier when it comes to bagels! Visit us online or at one of our three locations to order a box of bagels today. Then head over to our Facebook page and let us know your favorite way to use leftover bagels!